1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for making sidebar calls in parallel with conference calls, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for making private, parallel sidebar calls using session initiation protocol commands.
2. Background Art
Business is becoming more and more seamless due to advances in technology. Until recently, people had to travel to offices and factories each and every day to conduct business. They had to travel by car, boat, plane and train to meet with clients, customers and vendors. To run a global business, one had to log many hours and many miles on the road.
With the advent of electronic communication technology, however, the world has become a smaller place. New electronic devices like computers, mobile telephones and pagers allow people to stay in touch with customers, suppliers and their offices regardless of their physical location. Inexpensive long distance and the rise of the Internet allow telecommuting and nearly instant communications across the globe. Where a virtual “tether” once existed between a businessperson and his desk, he is now able to conduct business while traveling or even while on vacation.
Despite these technological advances, however, some people feel they still have to travel to properly conduct business. This perceived need exists because some of the options and flexibilities of meeting in person are not matched with a technological interface. One such example is the caucus, or side bar conversation, that takes place in a group meeting.
When people meet face to face, perhaps in a conference room for a negotiation, the various parties are able to communicate directly to discuss the terms of a deal or merger. When two people want to have a private discussion away from the group, for example to discuss the pros and cons of a particular proposal, they simply step into another room or office and talk. After talking in private, they are able to rejoin the group meeting feeling assured that they have the same understanding on that particular issue. They are also assured that the other party has not been privy to their conversation.
When using a multiparty teleconference in place of the face-to-face meeting, these sidebars are almost impossible to conduct. By way of example, if two people from company A are talking with two people from company B, where each person is calling from a different state or country, it is all but impossible to have a sidebar conversation. Where all the parties have dialed into a central conference number, the two parties must each hang up the conference call connection, call each other, talk and the redial the central conference number.
One prior art solution to this problem is for the people calling in to all subscribe to multiple phone lines. Where this is the case, the parties may each put the teleconference being conducted on line 1 on hold, both connect to a second line, dial each other, talk, hang up line 2 and then rejoin the conference call on line 1.
The problem with this prior art method is that it is both cumbersome and expensive. It first requires all of the parties who may desire a sidebar to have multiple line telephones. Further, they have to execute a large number of steps to have both lines going at the same time. Finally, should the second line ring while the teleconference is ongoing, the recipient of the call has no way of knowing whether the incoming call is related to the conference call unless someone announces the intent of holding a sidebar call to the entire group. For large, multiparty calls, such an announcement may be both distracting and of little benefit to the group.
Further complicating matters, the callers may be calling into the conference from mobile telephones. While some existing mobile telephone standards and protocols, for example IMS standards, do allow multiparty calls, they make no provision for splitting out of an existing multiparty call to conduct a subconference call.
There is thus a need for an improved method and apparatus for initiating and conducting sidebar, subconference calls in parallel with a multiparty conference call.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.